No idea how I missed this when it was announced, but the first two chapters of A Gathering of Shadows is now up on tor.com. The first two chapters were told from Lila’s perspective. I adore her so this excerpt is a major treat for me.
If you never heard of A Gathering of Shadows, it’s the second book in A Darker Shade of Magic series, by V.E. Schwab who also goes by the name Victoria Schwab for her young adults and children book.
Let me tell you a bit about ADSOM since I never actually reviewed it here.
A Darker Shade of Magic is a high fantasy book set in Londons. Yes, you read it correctly, there are more than 1 London in this book. There’s the prosperous Red London where magic is plentiful and brought to (mostly) good use, the White London where magic controls people that led to fights for magic, our very own Grey London where magic is no more, and the long-lost Black London where magic was once so powerful it destroyed the people and the city.
Our hero, Kell, is from Red London, and our heroine, Lila, came from Grey London. Kell is a Traveler, one of the few remaining people who can travel between these parallel worlds using blood magic. Lila, on the other hand, is a bold thief always looking for trouble. Long story short, Kell smuggles things and once, he smuggled something dangerous that made him a wanted person and set him on an adventure to fix his mistake while escaping for his life. He met Lila, although met is not the proper word, ‘robbed by’ is more appropriate. He saved her life, she saved his, then they embark on a dangerous journey to bring the item back where it belongs.
Okay, that is a long summary, I apologize.
I think Victoria could sum it up better than me.
A short list of things in ADSOM:
–Magic
–Cross-dressing thieves
–(Aspiring) pirates
–Londons (plural)
–Sadistic kings (and queens)
–A royal who is equal parts Prince Harry and Jack Harkness
–More magic (blood magic, elemental magic, bad magic, etc. etc.)
–Epic magicky fights scenes
–Angst!
–And coats with more than two sides.
So, yes, you should read it, and then you can sit here with me impatiently waiting for the second book.
Windie
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Thanks for sharing, I didn’t know the first two chapters were up. I read A Darker Shade of Magic about a month ago. It’s one of the only books that has kept me up until 2am for a long time.
You’re welcome. I missed it too when it was first announced. Thankfully, Victoria kept tweeting about it.
I lost a couple hours of sleep because of it too. It was a real page-turner.
Maybe I’ll have to follow her on Twitter then. Yes, it this book is addictive.